Ignashevich blocks Liedson's path

By Pavle Gognidze & Hugo Pietra

Sporting Clube de Portugal's irresistible force will come up against PFC CSKA Moskva's immovable object as Brazilian striker Liedson goes head to head with Russia centre-back Sergei Ignashevich in Wednesday's UEFA Cup final at the Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon.

Tiny diamond
If Sporting are to win the tournament on home soil, the diminutive Liedson - who has scored 25 goals in 30 Portuguese SuperLiga games this season - could be the man to watch. The 1.75m-tall forward has certainly come a long way since quitting supermarket shelf-stacking for professional football.

Atlantic crossing
Brazilian sides Prudentópolis and Coritiba FC shared Liedson's registration when he finally got his break with a season's loan at SC Corinthians. His performances there were enough to tempt Sporting to pay €2m for him in summer 2003 and he repaid their faith with 15 goals in his first term in Europe.

Blossoming talent
If that campaign witnessed his promise, 2004/05 has seen Liedson confirm himself as a major talent. As well as scoring for fun in the league, the 27-year-old has struck nine goals in the UEFA Cup including a hat-trick against FC Dinamo Tbilisi in Georgia.

Fans favourite
Hardly surprising, then, that he has become a favourite with Sporting's supporters. All his appearances for the Lisbon outfit this season have been greeted with a banner saying 'Liedson resolve' (Liedson solves the problem) - although he has given coach José Peseiro the odd headache.

Critical defeat
A yellow card in last Monday's SuperLiga game against Vitória SC meant he was suspended for the weekend's title decider against SL Benfica; his absence showing in a 1-0 defeat. The hope now is the extra time off will help Liedson prosper on Wednesday, although he was keen to stress that Sporting are no one-man team. "We have plenty of quality players who can score goals at any time," he told uefa.com.

Immense experience
Ignashevich will want to counter that theory. The 25-year-old is the strong, silent heart of the defence for both CSKA and Russia, and has gained immense experience of European football in the past four seasons, with FC Lokomotiv Moskva and now the Army men. Drilled in his art at the FC Torpedo Moskva academy, Ignashevich has made 16 appearances for Russia despite missing UEFA EURO 2004™ through injury.

Cool head
The central figure in a three-man CSKA back line, Ignashevich provides aerial strength and poise and has been a major factor in restricting CSKA's UEFA Cup opponents to just four goals in eight matches. He is also a handy goalscorer; his cool head and accurate feet making him a candidate for free-kick and penalty-taking too.

Renewed strength
A Bosman transfer from Lokomotiv to CSKA before the start of 2004 was the beginning of a difficult campaign for the defender, but he has come to terms with life at his new club, and with the Berezoutski brothers, Aleksei and Vassili, either side of him, CSKA have been fearsome in defence.

Biggest burden
As captain on Wednesday, Ignashevich has the biggest mental burden of all the CSKA players, but he will also have one of the hardest jobs in keeping tabs on Liedson. However, if the Muscovites can keep a clean sheet in Lisbon, his could be the greatest glory of all.